Simulation in lumbar pathology

Review of the work

Lumbar pathology is one of the most frequent pathologies in our environment, affecting a large number of people of all ages.

Functional assessment of the lumbar spine and simulation in this area is a topic that we frequently encounter, mainly in the workplace or in civil law in traffic accidents.

The design of an epidemiological, observational, analytical, prospective longitudinal study (cohort study) of two populations of patients suffering from low back pain and requiring functional assessment of their real state was carried out; a group with a diagnosis of lumbar pathology objectified by a Specialist in Orthopedic Surgery and Traumatology (understanding lumbar pathology, herniated discs, radiculopathies, cauda equina syndrome and lumbar canal stenosis (facet syndromes and herniated discs)) and another group, also assessed by a Specialist in Orthopedic Surgery and Traumatology without any of the previous diagnoses and with a diagnosis, therefore, of non-specific mechanical low back pain or dehydration of intervertebral discs.

A functional assessment of these two populations is carried out through clinical biomechanical tools, in our study with kinetic and kinematic measurement protocols, chair and weight tests using a photogrammetry (3D) system in addition to dynamometric platforms, which together with the application Adequate computing will provide us with the registration and analysis of the results, which in turn will be compared with the database in comparison with subjects with the same characteristics, and simulation detection strategies (reproducibility, consistency and coherence analysis, comparison of results of biomechanical tests with other complementary tests, harmony tests) evaluating the final test with indices of Normality and Collaboration to distinguish between normal, pathological or simulative subjects (exaggeration, perseverance and false accusations).

The hypothesis to be tested is that patients with a clinical diagnosis of traumatic pathology tend to simulate more than those diagnosed with a common pathology of the lumbar spine.